Rugby chiefs have refused to alter the Television Match Official set-up despite a “regrettable” incident in Saturday’s Saracens-Harlequins clash.
Stuart Terheege appeared to refuse to review foul play for fear of being viewed that he had only done so after pundit Austin Healey had highlighted the incident.
Harlequins captain Stephan Lewies cleared out Saracens counterpart Owen Farrell at a ruck knees-first.
Terheege was heard on commentary feeds saying: “The problem I’ve got now is it looks like Austin has instigated it, so I don’t want to talk about it.”
The body that oversees refereeing calls in English domestic action insisted Terheege had not ignored the incident, deeming it instead only worthy of a penalty – for which advantage had been played as Saracens had scored a try.
Saracens thrashed Quins 52-7 at Tottenham to move second in the Premiership table.
After a review of the incident by the Professional Game Match Officials Team (PGMOT), Terheege’s decisions have been backed up – but the manner of his broadcasted comments has been criticised.
“The Professional Game Match Officials Team (PGMOT) regret that questions have been raised about player safety and decision-making,” read an RFU statement.
“Match officials take player welfare incredibly seriously and it is their overriding priority.
“The conversation between TMO and (Match) Director that was broadcast ‘live’ was regrettable, they were not intended to be heard outside of the broadcast truck nor were they the reason for the foul play incident not being formally reviewed.
“Terheege is disappointed that he allowed himself to be distracted with interactions with the broadcast team and did not communicate his decision to the on-field match officials.
“The incident was an unusual and unfortunate occurrence. The PGMOT, Premiership Rugby and TNT Sports are working closely together to make sure this does not happen again.
“The three organisations enjoy a close and positive working relationship based on a mutually beneficial system that has worked for many years. All parties will continue to work hard to further refine and perfect systems to ensure player safety and high-quality rugby.”
